VLAN crossconnect (EFM) (VLAN-XC)

VLAN Crossconnect (VLAN-XC) is one of several technologies for connection-oriented data packet switching in Carrier Ethernet. The others are Provider BackboneBridging with Traffic Engineering( PBB-TE) and Transport MPLS( T-MPLS).

VLAN-XC technology is about the type of addressing. Instead of the MAC address as switching information, a label is encoded in the Ethernet header to identify the corresponding tunnel. The Ethernet header itself is not changed, but only a reserved bit position for the VLAN ID as provided for in the 802.1Q and 802.1ad standards.